Yesterday, Yanni got a call about a pageant at the mall. It was a small affair, accepting contestants from birth to 28.

The entry fee was reasonable, and Yanni happily entered.

This was the kind of pageant to cut your teeth on. The girls wore fancy dresses, wrote a few basic details about themselves on a card, read by the announcer, and walked across a tiny stage set up in the mall’s food court.

After waiting for all the younger age groups to compete, Yanni finally took the stage. She won the local pageant, winning a professional photo shoot and entry in the state pageant.